The Inactive End, Finally

The last forty pieces of the Tao Te Ching really could not be more repetitive. They continue with the message of non-action mentioned before, and it's basically all they say. They describe this idea in a way that sounds negative, it sounds as though they are telling to sit down in a couch and do nothing for the rest of your lives. Literally.

The Tao and its concept are just like the universe and the sun: it's always there and majestic, not doing anything but at the same time doing it all.

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Here are some quotes that caught my attention:

'In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped. Less and less is done until non-action is achieved.' (FORTY-EIGHT) 'I take no action and people are reformed. I enjoy peace and people become honest. I do nothing and people become rich. I have no desires and people return to the good and simple life.' (FIFTY-SEVEN) These two passages are examples of what I said before, the idea of us doing absolutely nothing and getting everything we want. I don't agree with this idea because it makes life seem as if we needed to put no effort into it or anything we do, and it is not like that. I do agree with the go-with-the-flow side of it though. These are sadly just two of many (too many) examples of this concept in the book.

'Approach the universe with Tao, and evil will have no power… the sage himself will also be protected. They do not hurt each other, and the Virtue in each one refreshes both.' (SIXTY) This part caught my attention, mainly because they are comparing an important and wise follower of Tao with evil. They are basically saying that evil lives by the Virtue and that it is equal to the Tao. I find that completely incomprehensible, especially after everything it says about Tao being the master of everything and above 'all the ten thousand things'.

'There is no greater catastrophe that underestimating the enemy.' (SIXTY-NINE) This is completely true, as well as what they say: 'never underestimate a girl'. I really like this aphorism, even though it is stuck in the middle of nothing related to it. The book is organized without any order, which makes very confusing for me.

'The Tao of heaven is to take from those who have too much and give to those who do not have enough. Man's way is different. He takes from those who do not have enough to give to those who already have too much.' (SEVENTY-SEVEN) This sadly is true, it's a Robin Hood kind of aphorism. Well, it's actually the exact opposite but you get what I mean. It makes me wonder exactly what Tao is. It is always spoken about as 'the Tao' or 'the way of Tao', but we never know what it is. It might be a religion, a culture, a way of life, or just random poems brought together, but I guess we'll never know.

'Why does everyone like the Tao so much at first? Isn't it because you find what you seek and are forgiven when you sin?' (SIXTY-TWO) I was very surprised to find this set of questions in the middle of my reading, because it is exactly what happened to me. When we started reading the Tao Te Ching I was very excited because it was so simple, so easy to relate to. I guess in a way I did find what I was looking for, some kind of answer for a problem I could understand. The sinning part has nothing to do with me though. Towards the end I noticed that all the writings were focused on the same and topic that they all wanted to convey only that one message. It evidently became much more complex and it took more effort to understand what it meant to say. This is something I didn't like so much. Why can't anybody just say things as they are? Why do we have to use symbols and ideas and confusing words to say something that could be very simple? But the Tao seemed not to care about that, it gave off an attitude of read me if you want, if you don't I don't care. It just kept on going and spreading its message, oblivious to everything else, and that is something I really admired (although in my case, it was kind of obligatory to read it!)